KNOSSOS

Hi Joe! I've found this discussion very helpful: http://www.prepar3d.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=119517

Yep, it's obsolete now

Daniel, sorry for this, but it was old version file for Prepar3D v3.1 only, so now I removed link to the file. krazyk, yes, I hope great utility tool by Pe11e will be the most convenient way to make such adjustments

http://www.avsim.com/topic/486643-brighter-terrain-darker-cloud-shadows-done/page-6#entry3403232 shader file General.fx, line #663. I think there is no balanced solution to use extremely dark shadows (with coeff. 0.1) without turning on trees, vegetation and simobjects receive shadows and making this correction in general.fx.

I use Cloud.fx_alternative, HDR.hlsl variants in Pe11e's pack in GPUTerrain.fx variant use this modification: const float3 sunAmbient = cb_mLights[sUN_LIGHT].mAmbient.xyz * 0.75; instead of const float3 sunAmbient = cb_mLights[sUN_LIGHT].mAmbient.xyz * 0.1; and don't modify this line const float3 finalSunColor = (sunAmbient + saturate(sunDiffuse * (sunContrib * 1.8f * shadowContrib)));// + pointLightsDiffuse); Default sky textures, no Reshade, HDR is on (brightness = 1.10, bloom = 0.3, saturation=1.2), volumetric fog is on. both strings are correct, no difference. Too many lines need to be listed IMO, it's easier just to compare default and tweaked files to find differences.

Hi! Thanks for testing these tweaks. Great work Pe11e! Some notes: - const float3 finalSunColor = (sunAmbient + saturate(sunDiffuse * (sunContrib * 1.8f * shadowContrib)));// + pointLightsDiffuse); I'm not use this tweak in 3.2. This make autogen (buildings, trees) looks awful IMO- overlit like a sore thumb ) - const float3 sunAmbient = cb_mLights[sUN_LIGHT].mAmbient.xyz * 0.1; if such low value (0.1) is used, terrain/clouds shadows become very deep and the other rendered objects on terrain become overlighted in shadow. Therefore it needs to turn on shadow receveing for autogen (buildings, trees). And furthermore, the depth of shadow should be adequately coordinated for autogen. It may be done by editing one more shader - General.fx :wink: cDiffuse = cBase * (float4( saturate( (cb_mLights[sUN_LIGHT].mAmbient.xyz*0.1 + (shadowContrib * (sunDiffuse * fDotSun))) + (cb_mLights[MOON_LIGHT].mAmbient.xyz + (shadowContrib * (moonDiffuse * fDotMoon)))), 1) + cDiffuse); But IMO 0.1 is extremely low value anyway. I prefer 0.75 for gputerran.fx and general.fx Hope it helps.

Yes. With <Dynamic reflections = OFF> in Prepar3d v3.2 FPS on all scenes above on my hardware are the same in Prepar 2.5 and 3.2.

Thanks that you show me my mistake. Yes. The 25% drop FPS was due to Dynamic reflection set to ultra. When I switched it off, FPS become same in 2.5. Unfortunately, I cant see the differences in visual between DR on and OFF. What you mean hardware isn't capable? You can see on screenshots above real FPS on my hardware. No stutters, smooth flight. And memory consumption on my 980 is about 2.7-2.9GB because it has 3GB. Yours have 6 GB so buffers take more VRAM.

Oops... Just forget to turn off this new feature. Thanks. Sorry for inaccuracy. Where can I look examples of this expensive feature?

Comparison between Prepar3D 2.5.12942.0 and 3.2.3.16769. Sims were clean installed. No add-ons: full default setup. Same PC: Windows10 x64, display 3840x2160, 16GB RAM, Geforce GTX980OC, Core i5 2550k@4.3GHz Same driver: Nvidia 354.51 No tweaks on shaders or additional tools like resade. Settings are similar: Scenes tested were similar. Just copy situations(flights) from P3D v3 to P3D v2 folder in My Documents. Real FPS numbers are presented on attached screenshots. Scene 1. Three clouds layers and two visibility layer. Precip. FPS penalty in 3.2 10%. (Despite quantity of raindrops draw significantly reduced in 3.2 ). 2. "Live" water. FPS drop 25%. 3. A plenty of autogen buildings. Increased range of autogen rendering almost not really important, but have sharp boundaries. FPS penalty 25%. 4. Mesh test. Mountains. FPS drop 25%. 5. A plenty of water and clouds. FPS penalty 20%. Testing flights with default aircrafts. No stutters in 2.5 at all. Smooth and fast. In fact, up to 25% faster (!). Visual improvements in 3.2 almost not noticeable. Only water and HDR have significant changes. IMHO. 25% is too much for almost no eye-sweet. Isn't it? Or it's a fee for stability?

It was so annoying. You may try solution that i've done for myself by modifying shaders file. modified file: https://goo.gl/7cyvze instructions how to set up: 1. Close P3D if already running 2. Pls make a backup (copy) of your default shaders file [Prepar3d directory]\ShadersHLSL\Cloud.fx 3. Copy modifed shaders file Cloud.fx_ver[X] (now it is in version 5 so file name is Cloud.fx_ver5) to [Prepar3d directory]\ShadersHLSL\. And rename it to Cloud.fx (with overwrite existing file) 4. Clear the shaders cache: Delete all files in directory [disk where Windows was set up]:\Users\[user name]\AppData\Local\Lockheed Martin\Prepar3D v3\Shaders\ 5. Thats all. Just start Prepar3D. If something goes wrong (artefacts, FPS decrease, or you dont like how clouds looks now) restore previous state by: 1. Close P3D if running 2. Copy previously reserved file Cloud.fx to [Prepar3d directory]\ShadersHLSL\Cloud.fx. 3. Clear the shaders cache: Delete all files in directory [disk where Windows was set up]:\Users\[user name]\AppData\Local\Lockheed Martin\Prepar3D v3\Shaders\ 4. Restart PC. What was modifyied in clouds in tweaked file: - clouds color in dusk/dawn was enhanced to get more picturesque scene - dusk/dawn overlight was eliminated - night clouds luminance was tied to moon (volume, light volume etc.) - cloud in daytime slightly "volumized" And I recommend use REX Soft Clouds with this modified shader. it looks great in my opinion. [sorry for my English]